The Demon of Fire
by mimetrix
Summary: Among her comrades, she is forced to reveal the truth of who she is. When the truth is uncovered all hell breaks loose as she fights her kind and her friends both alike. A plan is devised when a bigger threat is found resulting in the idea of overthrowing her master's throne and taking his place. However, she can't fight this battle alone as her friends return to her side.
1. Born from the Flames, Desire for Change

Long ago, in a land not of this world. A place believed by many to be a place of fiction, while those who believe sought to stay away. A place feared by so many. A place of darkness and built upon the sins of the world. A place called Gehenna, the world were demons lie. Under the rule of Satan himself, he leads the world under an iron fist alongside his eight demon kings. Each of these kings are rulers of different elements. The seven deadly sins rule below the kings as a warriors of Satan. Each king maintain their own kin, however some sought a little more than others, thus the class of underlings. Underlings are known to be high level demons who are peaceful but dangerous when threatened. Each underling living under the rule of each element. Underlings weren't considered very useful until the King of Fire Iblis rampaged the nesting grounds of the fire underlings. He destroyed everything within the grounds, many of the underlings fled in fear, while some had managed to stand their ground. One of them being a very young underling. The little one held on as long as it could until Iblis stopped his destruction. As a souvenir for his triumph against a helpless group of demons, the little underling that held on was taken away from its family. The little underling was raised by the hand of the Fire King with a brutal upbringing. The little underling began to grow angry by the day tired of being locked up in a cage. One day, it disappeared from Iblis. The vengeful underling was angered by the treatment it was receiving feeling that it was better being treated like a slave more than anything else. Seeking for help the underling had managed to travel to a distant land. There it met up with the King of Time and shared its story of Iblis' tyranny. The King of Time offered his helping hand and promised to make things better for the little underling. The underling accepted and when Iblis found out, the King of Time protected the little underling forbidding Iblis to come near. In fear, Iblis refrained from ever coming after his underling again.

The underling then grew up under the watchful eye of the King of Time. In that time the underling was introduced to the King of Earth. Occasionally the King of Earth would act as a sitter for the little underling and in time grew a strong connection with it. Not much is known about the connection. The underling lived under the King of Time's wing for thousands of years, until the King of Time had disappeared without a trace. The King of Time was the next closing thing the underling had to a family. Upset, the underling sought to find him. Knowing the connecting the King of Time has with Satan he underling made the journey to Satan's temple. The little underling cautiously approached Satan's temple to question the King of Time's whereabouts believing that he had been sent out on a mission. With the help from the King of Earth, the underling was able to enter the temple. Satan casted the underling away refusing to listen to anything that it had to say deeming it to be nothing more than a pathetic demon. The King of Earth, after hearing the underling's cries, tried to reason with Satan. Satan continued to refuse the request of a mere underling. However, that did not stop it. The underling tried to enter the temple and was casted away each time, but the underling did not give up. Satan began to grow a liking towards the underling after its persistent display of determination to have an audience with him. He agreed to the underling's request after many attempts. He told the underling of a world called Assiah, a place not like their own filled with beings known as humans. He explained that this is where the King of Time resides and that the only way to enter this other world was through a gate. The underling requested to travel to this world by having him open the gate for it. Satan refused to allow the underling to have access to this world seeing how the little one was weaker than most underlings and would surely die upon arrival. However, he believed that if the underling could prove itself and become powerful to earn its own seat in the council he would help get the underling to Assiah. Under this circumstance Satan believed that the goal would be unachievable for the little one to achieve.

The King of Earth felt sorry for the underling knowing how much it cared for the King of Time and brought it to the Sin of Lust. Under the King of Earth's request, Lust continued to forge the underling into a stronger demon to prove that it was worthy. Under Lust, the underling was shaped into a succubus like demon with the innate ability to control powerful flames. The King of Earth continued to see the underling and began to develop a very fond admiration for it more than just the small connection they had before. As each day passed he tried to convince the little one to not go to Assiah and stay in Gehenna with him as his own underling. Refusing to accept the offer the underling continued to keep its flames growing stronger. Day by day, the underling grew stronger and eventually became powerful enough to defeat the Sin of Lust in combat. The King of Fire Iblis began to hear of the underling's growth. Against the King of Time's wishes, he sought after his underling. When he found it, he was impressed by the incredible growth and determination that it had. Still furious for all of what he had done, the underling challenged Iblis to battle. If Iblis won, then he could do whatever he wished to it, however if the underling won, it wanted to be take over as the ruler of fire feeling that Iblis did not deserve the title. Agreeing to the terms, the two demons fought. Word had gotten out to Satan about the intense battle that was taking place. Already the underling had shown that it had become one of the strongest if not the strongest underling to have roamed Gehenna. The underling proved to be a challenge for Iblis unlike other higher-levelled demons. However, it still was not strong enough. Iblis had beaten the underling to near death before being stopped by Satan's hand. Seeing the growth of the underling, Satan saw a future for it. Born of the raging flames of the King of Fire and the cunning skills of the Sin of Lust, raised by the King of Time, trusted by the King of Earth, and overall showing its own strength and will being greater than most underlings, had proven that it was unique all on its own and worthy in his eyes. He granted the underling a seat in the demon council as second in command to the King of Fire as long as Iblis accepts the proposal. The underling accepted the seat still showing spite towards Iblis as he humbly agreed to his father's wishes.

Now under Iblis' command and requested by Satan, the underling was then further trained as a fire demon warrior. As much as it didn't like the idea, the underling accepted the request. The underling soon began to gain the ability to control the Fire King's kin as if they were their own. This was due to the outmost respect that the underling had earned from the lower leveled demons. It wasn't long until the underling was recognized as part of the hierarchy amongst others that were inspired by its strength. In this time, the underling thanked the King of Earth for all he has done, and the Sin of Lust for the training. The underling's strength continued to grow with the desire to see the King of Time again. Once again the underling requested an audience with Satan. Here, the underling reminded him of when he stated that it could pass to Assiah so long as they were able to gain a seat as a council member. Still holding to his word he allowed the underling passage to Assiah. He informed the underling that the gate would be small only allowing it to pass into this materialistic world and form a permanent possession. Once the gate was open fully, the underling passed through it and had finally made its way to Assiah to find the King of Time.

"And that folks is how the second commanders of the demon kings were created," said a man in a trench coat as he closed an old brown text book. "This one particular underling sparked a widespread commotion which allowed other underlings to become second in command to the king of an element, which then divided the underling into several levels. The Second in Command being the strongest and well respected underlings said to even one day over throw the Kings themselves. It hasn't happened but it could be possible. Next we have the henchmen type of underlings called Loyals who would do anything for the Kings, and then the lowest being the Ferals who are out of control underlings kind of treated as dogs to the kings and the Seconds in Command."

A bell rings in the room, "Alright, class is dismissed."

Seven students began to gather their things and leave the classroom to be dismissed from school. Two of the seven students made their way to the hall and began to walk down the darkened hallway.

"Wow, who knew that there were different levels within the different levels. I really hope that only a little bit will be on the written exam," said the first student as she flicked her purple ponytail behind her shoulder.

"You're telling me that was a lot to take in," said a short boy as he adjusted his glasses.

"I still can't believe that something like that can exist. A demon that could have the capability to overthrow a king. Do you know how strong that demon would have to be?" said the girl.

"Well, let's just be thankful that we don't have to face one of those anytime soon right. I mean it's not like a lot of the Second Commanders exist, only a few exist. Thankfully not all the kings have a Second in Command," the boy replied.

"Yeah, but still."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the school the headmaster sits at his desk. He gently moves a piece of his purple hair behind his slightly abnormal pointed ear as he begins to read a very important letter addressed to him from the Vatican. The Vatican is a holy place which currently sits as the headquarters for all Exorcist activities. The headmaster is an Honorary Knight of the True Cross Order and sits as the director of the Cram School at True Cross Academy. The True Cross Order is a division of Exorcists currently located within the Japan sector of the Vatican and is considered to be the largest order at this time. The Cram School within True Cross Academy is a secret training school separated from the rest of the Academy's school studies to train future exorcists. However, little to the regular students know that their headmaster is in fact a demon. This particular demon has been present in Assiah for many years and has earned the trust of the Vatican which is very unheard of. This demon goes by the name Johann Faust or better known to most as Mephisto Pheles.

"Well this is interesting, this is very interesting indeed," he said sitting back in his chair as he places the documents on his desk. On them was an image of a young female exorcist also ranked as an Honorary Exorcist specifically an Honorary Knight exorcist who mostly is noted as an Honorary Dragoon exorcist, an exorcist who specializes in guns. This exorcist wishes to be transferred in from the American division, the Sacred Heart Order as smaller order of the Vatican that covers the North American continent.

The next morning the seven cram school students were sitting in class as their teacher was giving them a lesson on pharmaceuticals against demonic illnesses. The young teacher appeared to be the same age as his students but had maturity of any of the other teachers. Holding the rank of a Middle First Class Exorcist the young Yukio Okumura has shown to be one of the youngest teachers of the Cram School.

"Rin, are you even listening to me?" He asked a boy with blackish blue hair sitting in the front row.

"Yeah I'm listening," he replied.

"Then repeat what I just said," Yukio responded placing his hands on the desk.

Rin stammered and tried to flip through a text book to at least attempt something instead of looking like a fool.

"If you had done the reading you would have known that we are on chapter five section four of the text book and had at least allowed you to say something instead of making yourself look like a fool!" Yukio said to himself.

"Would you two keep your brotherly quarrels at home for once!" a young boy with brown hair and a blond streak down the center of his hair proclaimed.

"You know Suguro is right," Mephisto replied walking into the room.

"Director, what are you doing here?" Yukio asked.

"I just received these important papers that I want you in particular to look at," Mephisto replied handing Yukio the documents of the Honorary Dragoon Exorcist.

"These are just transfer papers it looks like," Yukio stated as he flipped through the documents.

"Yes they are, after numerous tries, the Vatican finally approved of her transfer to our division. This could be due to recent changes within True Cross itself," Mephisto replied looking over at Rin. "I have granted the request for the transfer. She will become a councillor and a work as a specialty trainer to help provide lessons to those who want it. But unfortunately she has no place to stay, so I wish to discuss her placement within your dorm for now."

"Wait, you want a complete stranger from a different division in mine and Rin's dorm?" Yukio replied shockingly.

"Why yes, I do." Mephisto said as he began to leave the room.

Later that evening, Yukio went into the research section of the True Cross Order to dig into the history of this new exorcist that is transferring to at least familiarize himself with his new dorm mate. As he searched through the files, he came across a document labelled _Second Commander Ignifera_ almost as if it were purposely placed to be found. He placed the file on a nearby desk and began to search a little more for anything pertaining to Ashley Pyre the new exorcist. As Yukio turned away, the documents he had placed on the desk had mysteriously fallen to the ground. Quickly turning around, he saw nothing was there. Knowing that no demon could have access to the academy due to the barrier Mephisto had placed, he relaxed and calmly picked up the file. A picture had fallen out and landed on the desk. He closely examined it before putting it away and noticed something. Within the photo it was not ordinary person. The photo itself consisted of two headshots one of a young woman and the second of a demon but both being the same person. Before he was able to open the file, it had crumbled into dust as if it had rapidly aged. All he had was the photo.

"There is no need to go into any further details, that photo should be enough information for now," Mephisto said quietly hiding where he couldn't be seen.

Yukio held onto the photo and examined it closely. He determined that the photo was taken in the late 1960's. The woman in the picture had no smile, her eyes were yellow and her hair was red with black ends. Her ears were pointed and a small hoop was pierced through the top of her right ear. In the second portion of the photo, her eyes had changed. They were almost reptilian and still maintained their golden yellow color. Her skin was red and scaly and long horns were on her head. Here features greatly reminded him of a reptilian creature but also the stereotypical demon. Behind her in the image was a tail with the end of it resembling that of an ordinary arrow. There was another thing noted in the image that Yukio couldn't quiet put his finger on. The second image of her as a demon appeared to have a lighter appearance. Meaning that something in the room had made it so that the image would be brighter than when the first photo was taken. Believing that this was just a camera trick, he placed the photo in his pocket and made his way back to the dorms.

As Yukio walked in, he found Rin sitting in the kitchen hall. Rin sat there enjoying the latest evening meal cooked up by their incredible chef. The little chef saw Yukio walk in and promptly threw a plate of food in his direction.

"Thanks Ukobach," he replied to the little demon chef. "Rin, I need to talk to you about this new exorcist transferring to our order,"

"Yeah, what about it," Rin replied with a mouthful of food.

"Something tells me that this isn't good news, especially since she is going to be living in our dorm."

Rin swallowed what was in his mouth and replied, "So what, so a new exorcist is going to be living around here. It's not like it's a big deal or anything right?"

"Rin, I believe you seem to have missed the whole concept of a new exorcist coming to live here. An exorcist who may not have received full word about what goes on around here. She may not even know about your little situation," Yukio stated pointing at the tail poking out from behind Rin.

Unlike most of the exorcists-to-be currently studying at the cram school, Rin was a unique case alongside his twin brother Yukio. Recently Rin was awoken into his true state as a half-demon and not just of a demon. He is noted to be one of the sons of Satan. Although being his twin brother, Yukio is considered a half-demon himself, but shows no signs of holding any capability of a demon himself. For most of his life, Rin's powers were concealed away through a powerful sealing spell in a demonic sword called Kurikara. Once the sword was removed from its sheath during a horrific incident, it released the full blue flames of Satan within Rin further resulting in the tragic death of the twin's adoptive Father and Paladin to the order Shiro Fujimoto.

Since birth Yukio had always had the ability to see demons due to the Rin giving him a temptaint, a mark or incident caused by a demon. In fear of knowing what Rin really was, the young Yukio didn't want to see his brother lose control and become like the others he can see. However, with the confidence and encouragement from Shiro, the young Yukio trained to become and exorcist in order to help protect his brother.

"Well I guess that is a little problem," Rin said running is hand through his hair.

"A little problem, what's so little about that!" Yukio said putting his hand to his face.

The two continued to argue at each other about how they would adjust their living situations with the new exorcist moving in. It wasn't long before they finally had come to an agreement on some minor changes with the help of Ukobach and his persuasive frying pan to the head technique.


	2. Looks can be Decieving

Two weeks had passed since the announcement of Ashley Pyre transferring from the Sacred Heart Order. Arrangements had been made for her arrival at the academy. Things were prepped for a bedroom in the Okumura dorm away from all of the other dorms. This still allowed the boys to maintain a secret from the rest of the student body. During regular classes, Yukio, still being a normal student, was attending a biology class when he noticed out the window, a limousine pulling up to the gate. After closer observation of the picture he had found while researching, he had noticed facial similarities to the demon in the photo and the new exorcist. He didn't want to believe that a demon of that rank had become an exorcist believing that their director was the only one.

A young woman had stepped out of the limousine. She was wearing a traditional exorcist Dragoon uniform consisting of the usual black trench coat with a holster strapped to a brown belt. Her hair was long and black draping past her shoulders. As Yukio watched her, the driver handed her, her bags from the trunk. It appeared that she had thanked him and was waving him goodbye. The driver pulled away and she began to proceed towards the main gate, however she had managed to trip over something. Hitting the ground hard, Yukio noticed something fly off of her face. Glasses had landed on the ground a few feet in front of her. A young blonde haired girl was walking by and picked the glasses up. She helped Ashley up from the ground and it appeared that the two began to talk to each other. After closer examination, Yukio realized that the young girl was Shiemi Moriyama a close friend of his and a Cram student. On edge, he stood up from his desk drawing attention to himself. The teacher yelled at him and told him to stay in his seat. He obediently sat down and continued to watch the girls, however when he looked out the window they were gone.

After classes were completed, Rin had made his way back to the dorm before heading to the Cram lessons. As he made his way to the bedroom he shared with his brother, he heard a noise. The noise came from a room nearby. Without realizing that Ashely had arrived, he quietly grabbed his sword and pulled it off of his back not pulling it out of its sheath. He tip toed his way to the door where the sound had come from making a slight creaking noise in the process. Inside, the room was quiet with the light on. Rin calmly reached for the door knob, only to be surprised with the door opening. On the other side was Ashely in pajamas getting ready to strike a blow to Rin's head using the bottom of her gun. In that same moment Rin went to draw his sword and jumped backwards.

"You know if you are going to try and sneak up on someone, you really need to know how to be quieter when doing it," Ashley said fixing her glasses.

"Yeah, well what are you doing here to begin with?" He yelled.

"You must be Rin that I read about, aren't you?" she asked with a smirk on her face, her sky blue eyes shining through her glasses.

"Yeah….how did you know," he replied putting the sword back on his back.

"Upon my arrival I received a document that had a little bit about all of the students at the Cram School. You really are a fascinating one aren't you Rin Okumura a son of Satan," she said proceeding to point her gun at him.

"Oh crap, you know!" He yelled stammering backwards.

"Yeah, I do, but luckily I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to teach and guide students such as yourself," she replied lowering her gun.

"What is going on here?" Yukio yelled from down the hall.

"Ashley Pyre Honorary Knight Dragoon Exorcist from the Sacred Heart Order the American Branch," she replied holding her hand out.

"Get this Yukio, she knows I'm a demon! I don't have to hide my tail around her after all!" Rin said with a chuckle.

"Yukio Okumura, Middle First Class Exorcist and teacher of Pharmaceutical Demonology here at the academy," He replied returning his hand for a hand shake.

"Now, if you boys excuse me, I wish to turn in for the night. I do have a big day tomorrow for orientations," Ashely said as she closed the door.

Still uncertain about her, Yukio walked away back to his own bedroom with Rin. As the two walked he refused to discuss anything about her. Not until he could trust her at least.

The next morning Ashley was sound asleep in her room, until she heard loud sounds coming from down the hall. She quickly jumped out her bed and opened her door a crack to see what was going on.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" said Rin as he was running around, "I'm so late!" he continued to yell.

Ashley closed her door quickly and looked at her own clock. The time said 9:15, indicating that she was also late for the very same thing as Rin. Closer examination suggested that she did not set the alarm the previous night, causing her to not wake up in time for her to be at the orientation. She figured that being late was a bad enough impression, she didn't want to look indecent while she was at it. She skipped her usual morning shower and went straight to dressing in her instructor uniform, making sure that everything was tucked away where it should be. She made sure her hair remained down, her contacts were in, and her uncomfortable retainer was shoved back into her mouth. Quickly she grabbed her trench coat and folders and began to make her way to the classroom. By using one of the keys that were given to her, she unlocked the door and stepped into the Cram School hallway. She could hear voices in one room, the room in which everyone was sitting in waiting for her. She pressed her ear up against the door and could hear a few teachers talking about her. They seemed very skeptical of her. By taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped in.

"Sorry I'm late, my alarm clock….."She paused as she looked up from her papers.

There standing before her was the director Mephisto Pheles in his usual white suit and purple shirt. He placed his top hat on top of his purple swirl in his hair and gave a toothy grin. In shock, Ashely dropped all of her papers on to the ground. Her jaw dropped as she just stared.

"You were saying about how late you were because of your alarm clock. It didn't go off did it? You didn't even set it last night did you Miss. Pyre," he replied holding his hand to his top hat.

"I….uh….." tears began to stream down her face, "is it….really you?" she asked. "I finally found you again!" she yelled as she ran towards him.

She grabbed him in a tight hug and cried on his shoulders. Unsure of what to do, he looked towards the other exorcists in the room for help. He looked back down at the crying woman who seemed to be holding on to him tighter and tighter. Eventually he pulled her off of him and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I hate to break it to you, but I really don't think we've met each other before. Although you do look awfully familiar," he responded looking into her tear filled eyes.

"Yes, I suppose a lot has changed since the last time we have seen each other, but it's me! You have to remember me, you practically saved me….." she said dropping her head down.

In that moment, things began to click in Mephisto's head. He grabbed a hold of her chin and responded.

"The little one in the cage?"

She looked up at him as tears welled up even more than before. Her lips began to tremble as she nodded.

"It really is you! My, my, have you changed," he said returning the hug which she had originally initiated.

The two of them embraced each other as the others in the room stood in complete confusion at what they were witnessing. Mephisto pulled her away and wiped the tears from her eyes with his purple glove. She held onto his hand and smiled.

"What happened to you, what made you make such the change?" he asked as she pulled away.

"It was the Sacred Heart Order. After the trial I was sentenced to death, I was supposed to be burned at the stake. Whatever you did saved my life and I could never thank you enough for that. They gave me a secondary trial and agreed to let me live on one circumstance. They feared that you and I were going to plot against them in some way, well mostly me. So what they did was send me as far away from you as they could. I joined the Sacred Heart Order and was then forbidden to reveal to anyone who I was. I was even given a new name. So I began to learn to be a dragoon exorcist as per the agreement. Eventually I worked up the respect as an Honorary Knight….or Honorary Dragoon rather. It didn't take me too long to work my way into the order like that. But eventually I learned that you were stationed here at this order and so I continuously tried to put my transfer papers through in hopes that they would allow me be with you again. Ta da," said Ashely.

"I see, well you're home now," he replied pulling her back in for a hug, "I want you to come into my office afterwards," he said pulling her away again, "but until then, you have an orientation to attend."

Mephisto walked out the door as Ashely was left alone at the front of the room. Her papers were still scattered everywhere. She quickly gathered her things up and walked up to the front desk. She glanced up to see the rest of the Cram School teachers leaning up against the back wall while the students sat in the desks in front.

"My name is Ashley Pyre and I will be the new councillor for any student and even teacher who feels the need that they need help coping with the things we face every day. For students, I will be holding individual lessons to work on specializing each student's unique fighting style and techniques beyond that of their regular provided lessons."

As she continued with the orientation, she looked up and made eye contact with Yukio. He stared her down hard, the look on his face was enough to send a shiver up her spine. She tried to lose eye contact, but she always found herself staring back into the deep blue eyes that were staring at her. She continued to go over her history with the Sacred Heart order and her position as an Honorary Knight Dragoon.

Once the orientation was completed the teachers began to leave the room along with the students. However, one student remained in the room. She sat at her desk with the largest smile on her face. Her green eyes shone big and bright. Curious as to why she wasn't leaving with the others, Ashley approached the desk.

"You're the girl who helped me yesterday morning aren't you?" Ashley asked.

"Yes, I am!" Shiemi said excitingly.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you sticking around?"

"I…I just wanted…."she began to blush," I just wanted a chance to talk to you again," she replied holding her head down.

"Oh, that's all?"

"Yeah, I think you're really cool. Your hair is really pretty and I never knew there was an exorcist as sweet as you are and I just wanted to get to know you!" Shiemi responded looking up at Ashely with her great big green eyes.

"Well, I'm just about to head to the director's office. I guess I don't have to use the key he gave me and take the long way if you really wanted to talk and get to know me," Ashley responded holding the key in her hand and putting it in her pocket.

Shiemi began to smile a great big smile and stood right up from her desk. Ashley grabbed her papers from the main desk and the two began to make the walk to the director's office. As the two made their way out the door, leaning up against the wall was Yukio. His blue eyes stared at Ashley just as they were during the orientation. Shiemi smiled and said goodbye to Yukio but Ashley refused to say anything to him. She knew that something was wrong with him, almost as if he couldn't trust her. Almost as if he knows something about her that the others may not know.

Instead of walking straight to the director's office, Ashley had walked Shiemi all the way back to her house at the herbal shop. Along the way the two were talking about all kinds of stuff that they could do together for their special lessons. Ashley really enjoyed Shiemi's enthusiasm and really hoped the two can work well together. Instead of making the long walk to Mephisto's office, Ashley pulled out the key to his door and walked up to the shop door. She put the key inside the key hole and gave it a turn. The key made a latch sound as she opened the door. Inside was not the shop but the office. Sitting at his desk was Mephisto sound asleep. Seeing her opportunity, she slammed the door shut in order to wake him.

He fumbled around in his chair, "Now why on Earth would you do that!"

"You wished for me to come see you once the orientation was completed. I'm a little late though, I made a detour on my way over here. The young girl Shiemi is such a sweetheart."

"Mmm, yes….It's good to see you again." Mephisto replied leaning forward on his desk.

"Sam…." Ashley replied walking towards him.

"Uh, uh, uh," he responded with his finger in the air, "I am Mephisto…just as much as you are Ashley….correct… Fera?"

"Sorry sir," she replied with her head down.

"Now, on that. You really have changed. The Sacred Heart order forbade you to from using your abilities, is that right? And let me guess, you needed to take all precautions to keep you identity a secret from the entire order that you went to great lengths as to even hide your eye color, teeth, and even the reason why you grew your hair out….isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well then, how much longer are to keep this up?" He asked standing up from his chair.

"I…I can't anymore. Everyone here is already on edge enough as it is. After all, how would they respond to a teacher being a…demon like me. Besides I have a contract."

"Ash….you are home now, you are free to be yourself. Your contract was only established with the Sacred Heart Order, not with us here at True Cross. Besides, it shouldn't matter that you're a demon, I mean we have a Son of Satan as a student here at the school," he said with laugh.

"No, if they learned that I was a demon things can only go wrong. After all I'm already sure that the one Okumura brother knows already. The smart one..."

"Ah yes, the young Yukio Okumura. It is possible he came across your original file," Mephisto replied stepping up to Ashley's side.

"No matter, I will remain like this…Hiding so to speak. I don't care what you say, I feel that if they knew that I'm a demon it will end badly."

"Well, suit yourself then, I don't really care what you do," Mephisto replied sitting back down in his chair.

"You, never really changed much have you Sa….I mean Mephisto," Ashley responded with a smile.

Back at the dorm Yukio and Rin were in their room. Rin was in his bed reading a manga while Yukio was at his desk writing some papers.

"Hey Yukio, what do you think of Miss. Pyre?" Rin asked putting his book down.

"I don't like her," he responded without even looking at Rin.

"What!" Rin yelled quickly sitting up, "But she seems so cool! The way she was telling us how she earned the respect of her order, saving a whole town from a high level demon! Don't you think that's so cool?"

"Rin, don't you think it seems a little odd that she just comes out of nowhere and quickly wins the hearts of everyone?" Yukio responded turning around in his chair to face Rin.

"No…but"

"Something isn't right here…" Yukio said while turning back to his papers.

"Oh I get it! You're just jealous because she is dragoon exorcist who is better than you!" Rin replied laying back down in the bed.

Furious, Yukio broke his pencil and glared at Rin. The two continued to argue back and forth about how Yukio didn't trust Ashley and her background story. In the midst of their argument, Ashley had returned home and walked by their bedroom. With their door wide open she couldn't help but to stop and peer into the room. At that point she saw the two boys wrestling on the ground arguing about who knows what anymore. She shrugged it off and made her way to her bedroom. She made sure the door was closed and sat down on her bed after throwing her trench coat on her chair. With a big sigh, she placed her head in her hands sliding her glasses so that they were on her head. She reached over on her nightstand and grabbed a contact lens case. As she reached into her eye she pulled out her blue contact to reveal her true golden yellow eye color. Her retainer was next as she forced the uncomfortable piece of plastic out of her mouth to show her canine like teeth. Slowly she loosened her tie and threw it along with her trench coat and untucked and unbuttoned her shirt. Along with her shirt, she had removed her pants and thrown them in a dirty laundry pile she had started. In her room was a full length mirror which allowed her to gaze at her true self. She walked up to the mirror wearing nothing but her underwear and stared. Her long black tail was gently wrapped around her slender athletic body. Slowly she unravelled her tail as she tucked her long hair back behind her ears to show her unusual elongated ears. As she stood there, she couldn't help but to think about what the others might think if they knew what she was. She was still haunted by her memories of the last time she was discovered as a demon in hiding. The torture she went through, the loneliness of the cell she was thrown in, all because she used her powers on accident on an exorcist during her mission to find Mephisto. If it wasn't something Mephisto had done, she would have died at their hands. Instead only a handful of people were given access to her identity and a contract was made with her at the Sacred Heart Order. The contract stated that she was forbidden from ever using her powers or revealing to anyone who she was. However, as Mephisto had stated earlier, the contract only listed the Sacred Heart Order as the order to enforce these rules, any other order allowed her to have freedom. Although this was stated in the contract, every time Ashley had applied for a transfer she was denied. Until one day an exception had been made and her transfer was accepted. The Vatican granted her access to a different order which would in return allow her the freedom to be who she was. However, she had grown accustomed to her new identity fearing that no matter what, any exposure would result in the same fate. A separate trial for treason with a death penalty. She locked her bedroom door and had made her way to bed.


	3. Class

Days went by as the students from the Cram School began to get used to their newest teacher. Occasionally she would sit in on their classes and observe the students behaviour. She would determine the best ways to strategize their abilities and lessons. At this point it feels that her greatest failure is to really connect with the students she was teaching. None of them seem to really communicate with her, creating a distance between herself and the students putting a great flaw into her lessons. She feels that if only she was able to understand her students then maybe she would be able to create great exorcists, but at this point she can't even understand herself. She still felt terrified of sharing her biggest secret to them distancing herself from the students like the students are to her.

Ashley was sitting in on one of the Demonology classes observing the students like she normally would. However, she couldn't help to be very observant of the lesson presented that day.

"Alright class, today we are going to review underlings again," the teacher proclaimed.

"Again, but we just went over that a few months ago!" Izumi, the young purple haired girl proclaimed.

"Yes, I understand that but I have special orders from the Director himself to repeat the lesson."

Ashley couldn't help but to wonder why Mephisto would want this. She made a note of it on her clipboard to ask him about it once she was able to speak with him.

"So, as I have said before the underlings are an interesting species of demons born of the Kings of Gehenna," the teacher stated as he began to write stuff on the board.

"Actually sir…that's incorrect," Ashely proclaimed, "Underlings are not born of the Kings, they are actually born of the elements that the Kings rule. Nesting grounds are located within each element and like any creature they are naturally born and are adapted to their surrounding element."

"Is that so? And can you prove this information?" the teacher asked.

All of the students turned around and stared at her.

"Yeah, Miss Pyre how do you know that?" Moriyama asked.

"I…I happen to have had close encounters with underlings…the fire ones even," Ashley quickly lied.

The teacher continued the lesson and every once in a while Ashely would interrupt stating that the information he was providing was incorrect. She would continuously correct him and argue with him. The more she corrected him the more furious he got.

"Alright Miss Pyre, if you think that everything I am saying is wrong then why don't you come up here and teach the class yourself, because for whatever reason you know so much about this one species of demons that exists,"

"No, I apologise this is your class and your lesson," she replied packing up her stuff and heading towards the door.

"I'll be sure that the director hears about this," the teacher stated as she closed the door behind her.

She began to make her way down the hall and saw Mephisto leaning up against a wall. He had the biggest grin on his face. Without even saying a word, she walked past him and glared. Something was up and she knew that he was behind it.

That evening Ashley had a lesson scheduled with Rin. She coordinated a meditation session to enable him to clear his mind better and focus. Knowing that Rin was a son of Satan she knew of the abilities that he was capable of. However, unlike most demons with the abilities to control flames like herself, he was unable to fully control his powers and use them to their full potential. Under strict instructions given to her by Mephisto, she was to help him control this power of his. Knowing that Shura, an upper first class exorcist and instructor of magic circles and seals and taming, had previously done some brief training with Rin, Ashley sought after her advice. After learning of the method that Shura had used, Ashley believed that it would be of great use to continue.

Without it being much of an interaction session, Ashely sat in a chair reading a manga as Rin was on the floor doing separate sets. His practice was to light two candles with one in the middle of them. He only had to light the candles on the outside and the middle one was meant to be untouched.

"So what's the deal between you and the director?" Rin asked.

Ashley looked up from her manga and made a small alert sound.

"I mean, on the day of your orientation, you were so excited to see him to the point where you were crying. What's up with that?"

"Mephisto saved my life a long time ago," she replied pulling her manga back up to try and end the conversation.

"What really!" Rin yelled while scooting closer to her chair.

Rin leaned in like a child would with his eyes big and wide. Ashley peered above her book to see him sitting there.

"Get back to lighting those candles," she said with a glare.

"But I want to hear what happened!" Rin said.

"It was a long time ago, it doesn't really matter much anymore," she replied "Just get back to practicing."

Rin slumped back to the candles and continued to practice burning them. He continued for a little bit longer before a timer went off.

"Alright Rin, you are free to go. I have a lesson with Shima now," Ashley responded as Shima walked into the training room.

Rin threw several melted candles in a bag along with some un-melted ones as Shima greeted the two. Shima put a duffle bag down on the ground next to Ashley's chair. Rin said his goodbyes and left the two alone in the room.

"Sooooo, what are we doing today teach?" Shima asked.

"Shima, you're wanting to specialize as an aria exorcist, correct?" Ashley asked putting her manga down.

"Yeah,"

"Then how come I rarely ever see you reciting scriptures or sutras?" Ashley asked removing her jacket.

"Oh, I don't know. It never really was my thing," Shima replied leaning up against the wall.

"You're K'rik, it's a family weapon right?"

"Yeah, all the Shima's have one."

"Hit me with it," Ashley said standing up from the chair.

She rolled up her sleeves and removed her glasses.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" Shima replied in shock.

"You heard me. I want you to show me what you can do."

Shima pulled out his K'rik and prepped himself to strike. The two circled around each other in a stare down match, waiting for the other to lay down the first strike. In a brief moment, Ashley ran to strike a blow with her fist. Shima blocked the blow with the K'rik forcing Ashley to turn her back to him. With her back turn he was able to retaliate with a blow, but quick on her feet Ashley was able dodge. Her dodge enabled her to use her legs to kick Shima off his feet.

The two continued the entire lesson in silence and with full concentration. By the end, they were both out of breath.

"You are a very skilled fighter Renzo Shima. Who taught you those skills?" Ashley asked grabbing a water bottle from her bag.

"My father back in Kyoto. He taught me everything I know," he replied grabbing his things. "Anyways teach, I'll see you later."

As Shima left, Ashley gathered her things and put her glasses back on. She swung her jacket over her shoulders and reached into one of her pockets and pulled out the infinity keys. On her key ring was a key that are only issued to a select group of people. This key was gold in color and the head of it was in the shape of a bat. She put this key in the lock of the training room door. Once the door was unlocked it opened up a gateway through the door the key was meant for. Inside was bright pink painted walls with anime girls decorating them.

"I never thought the King of Time would be an Otaku," said Ashley as she was walking inside.

"Well, you know me. So what have you come to report?" He asked with a slight wave of his finger.

In that moment the room began to grow dark. Nothing could be seen but a table which Mephisto was seated at. His elbows were on the table with his fingers intertwined together and his mouth resting upon them. His mischievous eyes stared at Ashley as she approached the table.

"All the students appear to be on the normal side of things for this type of group. I have not yet seen any hints that can state otherwise. Rin Okumura continues to try and control his flames and yet relies on them a little too much. Ryuji Suguro is a very determined boy who works very hard in all of his studies. Shiemi Moriyami is a very sweet girl who almost seems like she could barely even hurt a fly, yet she is always wanting to get involved in everything. She just wants to be able to help, it doesn't even matter if her own life is at risk. Nemu Takara barely speaks, is a master ventriloquist, and tends to keep to himself. Izumo Kamiki is very angry type of child. She is always very independent in what she does and has a lot of negative energy. Renzo Shima is too laid back in my opinion. His care free attitude shows in his studies as well as his techniques, very sloppy. Konekomaru Miwa is another one of the students who is very sweet and highly intelligent I might add. He is very serious when it comes to exorcisms and works very hard like Suguro. Not one of them could be suspected of doing anything against the order. If they were, they are very good at deception."

"Excellent!" He replied raising his arms in the air, "Ashley, your presence at this academy is very much needed. I can't tell you how much of a joy it is to be able to know what's going on around here without being involved myself. Especially now with the Okumura brothers around. I want you to be able to get to know them well, you could learn a thing or two from them yourself," he said leaning back into his chair.

"Surely you must be joking Pheles. You want me to get involved with a ticking time bomb and Mr. No Childhood?"

"Precisely," Mephisto replied with a large toothy grin.

"Very well sir, as you wish," she responded as the room began to change back to the way it was before.

Ashley turned around and began to walk out of the room, but before she was able to reach the door Mephisto stopped her.

"You know, that retainer of yours must get very annoying after a while. And how could anyone say no to your natural eyes."

With a flinch at his words, Ashley clenched her fists and teeth and continued her way to the door. As she opened the door she could her Mephisto's laughter behind her. Mephisto sat in his chair with the door closed as a little green hamster appeared from his jacket.

"Was that really her big brother?" the green hamster asked.

"It may not look like it now, but it is her in the flesh," Mephisto replied.

"Can I go play with her again?" the hamster asked.

"No not yet," Mephisto replied. The hamster made a sad sound. "However, I do want you to do something for me."

The next morning Ashley was sitting in her room at her desk. On the desk were some progress reports of all of the cram school students. Today was considered her day off and with Rin and Yukio not around, she was finally able to sit in her room without her usual get up. Her tail hung calmly off of the chair gently swinging back and forth as Ashely was heavily concentrated on her reports. Her red hair, finally able to be let loose from the wig, shone in the sunlight that peered into her room.

She continued making notes on what to work on next with each student. The pencil gently resting on her canine teeth each time she needed to pause and think. Things were going very well today, it was nice and calm with no interruptions. That was until she began to hear footsteps outside of her door. She quickly dropped her pencil from her mouth and stared at the door, listening to see what could be there. The footsteps were coming back and forth in front of her door, sounding like someone was pacing back and forth. Quickly she used magic to change herself into her get up and approached the door. She calmly opened the door and peered outside. Standing in the hallway looking out the window was Yukio.

"Yukio, what are you doing here? I thought you would be out somewhere," Ashley said as she walked out of her room.

"Classes are done for the day. The teachers actually allowed us to have some extra time before this weekend to enjoy the sunshine," he replied leaning up against the wall. "Listen I've been meaning to ask you how the special classes have been going?" he asked standing straight up.

"Oh," she replied in shock, "they've been going really well actually. I'm doing up some reports right now as a matter of fact. However, the extraordinary one is…"

"No need to say more, I know Rin is something but remember he isn't as bright as his flames," Yukio stated cutting Ashely off.

"Well, actually I was going to say Suguro. His determination shows that he really can be a great aria. It really is a shame he hasn't been practicing his marksmanship as much as his does with scriptures. He says he wants to double up his meisters and be a dragoon, but he just hasn't gotten the hang of guns yet."

"Oh, is that so. Well then, alright I guess I'll leave you to the rest of your reports then," Yukio replied and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Ashley yelled before he could get away, "I've been meaning to ask you something myself. Why is it you've been treating me like I'm some sort of, dare I say demon? I've done nothing wrong as far as I know, so I don't understand. And why ask me about my classes to begin with?"

He turned around and smiled, "I didn't meant to treat you like that. I am sorry for that. I guess I'm not used to changes, especially when it involves a complete stranger."

"Trust issues, ok that I understand."

"And I only asked because I have seen improvements in some of the students fighting techniques."

Yukio continued to walk down the hallway, his smile quickly left his face. Little did Ashley know of Yukio's true motives for asking. Still under the impression that she was a demon capable of causing mass destruction to the True Cross Order, Yukio continued to lack trust in her. However, after hearing what she had to say about her classes some trust was granted. He began to think that Ashley did not have intentions of going after his brother Rin. He was sure that if she was, then she would cause trouble involving Rin's powers. But now after hearing she was more impressed with Suguro, some relief did come over him.

Ashley went back into her room and released her power to turn herself back to her normal state.

"I don't know what is up with that kid but something doesn't feel right," she said sitting back into her chair, "And I hate having to use my power like this, I really wish there was a better way in case circumstances like this occur again. Shapeshifting even just slightly is such a pain sometimes because I never practice anything anymore," she said with a stretch, her tail gently lowering to the ground.

"Oh right!" Ashley proclaimed as she turned around at her door, "With him around, I can't exactly allow it easily access to get in here," she said using her pencil like a wand causing the lock on the door to turn.

Later that afternoon Ashley was sleeping in her bed with her manga in her lap. It was all quiet until a loud beep and buzz of her phone could be heard. Awoken from the sound, Ashley sprung upward knocking her manga to the ground. She reached for her phone to see who had texted her.

 _Hi Ashley, I received your phone number from the teacher roster. I wish for you to attend my pharmaceuticals class this afternoon if you can. Thanks, Yukio._

Interested, Ashley looked at the clock and saw that she did have time to quickly put everything on and make her way to the classroom. As she made her way to the classroom, the door was already wide open. Yukio was standing up at the front of the class with a book in his hand as he was writing notes on the chalkboard. He looked over to see that she had made it.

"Miss. Pyre I'm glad you could make it," Yukio acknowledged her putting his hand down from the board.

"Hey, you wanted me in your class?" she asked walking into the room.

"Yes, I want you to take part in this special class. Please have a seat," he gestured to the teacher's rolling chair he had pulled out from the desk. "Alright class, today I want to discuss the importance of being a meister. In this day, most of the exorcists will have at least one meister. However out of those exorcists a large portion of them are going to be exorcists of multiple meisters, like myself. I am a dragoon and doctor meister, however that also does not prevent me from familiarizing myself to other styles. Miss Pyre if you could add."

"Ohh… uhhh... well, Mr. Okumura has it correct. To be able to be a top exorcist you need to be able to show that you are capable of understanding the techniques of all of the known meisters. For example as an Honorary Knight I do have a meister of a knight, but due to changes within the order branch I was in I was required to take on the meister of dragoon as well. Being able to understand magic seals is also very important. It enables you to add stealth to your repertoire to set up traps and can up your defense as well for barriers. Arias are dangerous to be a meister of but are masters at sealing demons and proven to be very useful in matters of defending those who are knights or dragoons."

"That's right, so today I want you guys to be able to start focusing on another meister. I understand that you guys still want to be able to work on you main skills, but after reviewing some of the reports Miss Pyre could provide, we would like to see you try different skill sets."

"Wait, what reports, I never actually released any. How would you know?" Ashley asked alarmingly.

Yukio said nothing and adjusted his glasses. Ashley looked down at the ground still in shock as to what was going on.

"I assume that's what your reports were based on. I never got to see anything, but I do remember you mentioning something about it this morning, Miss. Pyre if you would pick out the miesters for each student" he replied with a boyish smile.

Relieved Ashely let out a sigh. She stood up from the chair and gazed out at the class.

"Alright, I will assign you each a meister that I want you to work on, on your own as well as with me during our lessons together. Kamiki, you already are a tamer so now I want you to focus strictly on arias can you handle it?" Ashley asked.

"Tch, of course I can. I'm a shrine maiden, arias are going to be no problem for me to work on," she replied folding her arms as her purple pigtails fell behind her shoulders.

"Moriyama with you being a tamer as well, I don't want you working on arias. I want you to start studying more on pharmaceuticals for the meister of a doctor. This may require more attention within this class, understood?" Ashley asked the blonde hair girl who eyes were sparkling in the light.

"Yes, I will try my best!" she replied with great enthusiasm.

"Konekomura, how would you feel also trying out the meister of a doctor? I feel with your knowledge you can greatly excel at it," she asked the young bald headed boy in the back of the room.

"Sure, I can give it a try!" he proclaimed.

"Suguro, you've been wanting to try to actually obtain a second meister correct?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah I want to be a dragoon," the boy with a streak of blonde down the middle of his hair replied.

"Then that's what you'll be working on. And as for you Shima, I want to explore more with your fighting style of your K'rik. I want you to work on the meister of knight alright?"

The pink heard gave a thumbs up as he was resting his head in his hand.

"Oh, what about me. What do I get to do?" Rin asked nearly jumping out of his seat.

Yukio and Ashley turned to each other both with an expression of confusion on their face.

"Umm…How about…."Ashley stammered, "aria?" she looked at Yukio again and he just shrugged in response.

"Hey come on, how come you knew what everyone else was going to have but not me?" Rin shouted.

"Rin, you're special and you know that. So maybe picking something way beyond what you normally do might actually be a good thing. That way it will allow you to know which arias you can and can't use," Ashley replied. "Oh and lastly Takara, I want you to work on arias as well."

There was no response from Takara, almost as if her statement didn't even phase him at all.

"Alright, so the next time I have a lesson with you individually I want you to show me what you already know. Consider it to be a test of your knowledge. I will see what you can do and tell you where you can improve."

"Thanks Miss. Pyre. Everyone, class is dismissed early, but I want you all to take this extra time to prepare for this test you will face against Miss. Pyre," said Yukio.

"Umm, excuse me. What kind of test will this be?" Moriyama asked.

"Well this will be a test of your knowledge of course, and the only way you can show that is to fight me. And in case you three for aria training are wondering, I am also considered to be a minor tamer. I do have the capability of summoning low level fire demons. That alone should give you a head start on what you need to know coming into this fight. The doctors will be tested on their medical knowledge, Mr. Okumura can I ask for your assistance during these lessons?"

"Of course, I would love to help. In that case, I will purposely inflict myself with some sort of injury, ghoul related or not. I expect you to know what to do and treat myself like a normal victim of a demon attack."

Yukio ended the class and everyone left the room. Ashley walked down the hallway with the students and Yukio not too far in front of her. As all of the student walked out through the door and began to make their way home, Ashley closed the door and pulled out her infinity key to Mephisto's office. She wanted to make sure to inform him of the slight changes to the curriculum.


End file.
